Steel Products Prices North America
Commerce Updates SIMA System to More Closely Monitor Imports
Written by Sandy Williams
September 13, 2020
The Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) system is receiving an upgrade courtesy of the Department of Commerce. A final rule was adopted on Sept. 11 that will modernize the SIMA system and set up a new online platform on the Commerce website.
“These significant improvements to SIMA will enable Commerce and the public to more readily identify transshipment and circumvention involving steel imports,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross.
The regulatory changes adopted in the final rule will: (1) require steel import license applicants to identify not only the country of origin, but also the country where steel used in the manufacture of the imported product was melted and poured, as defined in the final rule; (2) expand the scope of steel products subject to the import licensing requirement to include all products subject to Section 232 tariffs; (3) extend the SIMA system indefinitely; and (4) codify the existing low-value license requirement for certain steel entries up to $5,000. Commerce received public comments on these regulatory changes, as published in a March 2020 proposed rule.
The online platform will be released on Oct. 13 and is the first major overhaul of the system since 2005. The updated SIMA will offer free, modern data analytic tools to the public for performing detailed, customized data analysis. These tools will aid in the identification of changing trade patterns and surges in U.S. imports of steel products, as well as potential circumvention and evasion, said the DOC.
Training on the new system will be offered in a series of Commerce webinars. More information about the webinars can be found at https://www.trade.gov/updates-steel-import-licensing.
The updates to SIMA are consistent with a USMCA agreement with Mexico and Canada that allows the U.S. to monitor import surges and treat North American melted and poured steel products separately from those that are not, said Commerce.
Sandy Williams
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